How to Keep a Promise
by ChaotikWolfi
Summary: Feeling lost and estranged after the death of a newfound flame Astrid is left to pick up the pieces. Will she succeed in protecting what she now holds dearest? (Note: Anything that happens chronologically prior to chapter one is identical to the first movie.)
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

Five years. It has been Five years since Astrid's life had been turned upside down. Five years of ups and downs that the young Viking will never forget, not that she ever wished to. Five years of emotional pain and suffering courtesy of a particular event that shook her to her very core.

A twenty year old Astrid Hofferson sat alone at her table, a fork in hand. Before her was a plate filled with lamb chops with a side of mashed vegetables as well as a tankard of berry mead -her favourite since she was old enough to drink- her stomach growled and complained in hunger but she couldn't bring herself to down a single bite, since her teen years she had learned to cook properly, and most importantly cook things that wouldn't make everyone who tried a bite sick as a dog, but that was not the issue, not today. Astrid stabbed at her meat solemnly, a large saddened frown chiselled onto her face. In front of her plate, nearly in the middle of the table sat a Viking helmet, a smallish helmet with metal bands lending structural support and a pair of horns jutting out and sweeping upward on either side. It was well made, well enough to be worthy of a chief… though that thought merely sent an aching down into the pit of her stomach. She reached out and ran a finger along one of the bands, fighting back tears as her digit contacted the bare metal. Astrid pushed away her plate, careful not to knock over her tankard in the process and slumped into her arms, burying her face into her forearms and letting out some long held back tears, pained sobs filling her hut.

Crying was very unlike Astrid, in fact it was very unlike most Hofferson women, but in this case she simply couldn't help it. Besides, it was not as if anyone was around to hear her, nobody who would judge her for it in any case. Astrid glanced up as she felt a familiar feeling of something nudging her side; she looked at the source to find a pair of compassionate glowing emerald eyes looking straight at her, pupils wide. The black dragon those eyes belonged to cocked his head sadly, seemingly understanding what she went through without even sharing a word, his human friend went through the same thing every year since… since the incident, an incident that pained the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself each and every time he remembered it despite not even having witnessed it. Astrid slung her arms around him, shutting her eyes and nuzzling into the crook of the beasts well-muscled neck. Her sobs muffled against his slick black scales, prompting him to simply rub his head against hers. He crooned at her in an attempt to calm her nerves, the physical contact seemed to be doing the trick quite nicely so far, but he felt she still wasn't up to her normal standards. She wouldn't be until the following day at the earliest, that much he knew. Astrid pulled away from the embrace and looked at the dragon with a crooked, pained smile on her lips. 'What would I do without you…' she thought, the dragon gave her a look that could only mean the feeling was mutual, she looked at him fondly, petting his head a good few times before rising up from her chair sadly. "Shall we go for a flight, bud?.." she said, her nasally voice cracking at that last word, on any other day she wouldn't mind calling the beast by his usual nickname, but today… today was all different, it was always different.

Every single year the same irksome song and dance. Every single year she got out of bed, did her daily duties, lacking her usual enthusiasm, prepared a good meal that she wouldn't end up eating and took the dragon out for a flight around the island before going to bed with an empty stomach and an empty heart. Every single year she wished and hoped that the following would be different… yet it never is… It has been five years…


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

Five years prior.

It was a warm early afternoon on Berk and the mood seemed to be high; the villagers began positively swarming away from their homes and toward the dragon arena on the far side of the village. The training grounds have been downright transformed, rather than naked stone and wood the Hairy Hooligan banner as well as the crests of the most important Berkian households were present as banners draped from the side of the stands: Ingerman, Thorston, Jorgenson, Hofferson, Haddock. Each and every villager was present and accounted for; Stoick the Vast stood in front of the crowd, beaming with pride: an expression they didn't see the chief wear often, but it was understandable, his son was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III, Hiccup the Useless, Hiccup the Walking Disaster, he didn't often have anything to be proud of. Stoick spoke up, "Well, I can show my face in public

again." He started, a laugh coming from the crowd, "If someone had told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from being, well... Hiccup, to placing first in dragon training... I would've tied him to a mast and shipped him off for fear he'd gone mad. Yes! And you know it!" he continued, the villagers hooting and cheering was hardly loud enough to overpower the Viking chief's booming voice, "But here we are. And no one's more surprised..." he paused, looking down at Hiccup who was standing by the entrance gate. "... Or more proud than I am. Today, my boy becomes a Viking. TODAY, HE BECOMES ONE OF US!" The crowd erupted into cheers and roars, applause could be heard all around. Stoick's spirits were so high he hadn't even noticed his son's downtrodden expression that he wore since the day began, that being said the redhead chief never had a penchant for reading emotion particularly well.

Hiccup was looking into the ring as a long, drawn out sigh escaped his lips; Astrid stepped up behind him and laid a lithe and gentle hand onto his back as a gesture of support. Had Hiccup known this would happen three weeks ago he would be overjoyed; he would kill a dragon, for Thor's sake! Yet as it stood he could not find any form of joy within himself. Worry and concern that his plan would fail gnawed at his subconscious and even the touch of his childhood crush didn't do much to soothe the pain. Astrid was first to break the silence. "Be careful with that dragon." She said, it was well meaning advice, she knew Hiccup had trained a dragon; she knew he could do it again, too, but she also knew that dragons were animals -Not demons like they had originally thought- and a cornered animal was still dangerous.

"It's not the dragon I'm worried about." Responded Hiccup while looking at the cheering crowd, he did little to hide his emotions; the others would be too absorbed in the celebration to even notice it.

"What are you going to do?" She asked, her tone filled with genuine worry and concern over the safety of her newest friend.

"Put an end to this." He said, he was half tempted to say 'Something stupid and crazy' but he didn't wish to worry her any further, she must have had enough on her mind as it was. "I have to try." He continued before turning to face her. "Astrid. If something goes wrong...just make sure they don't find Toothless."

"I will." She promised, "Just promise me it won't go wrong " she had faith in him and his abilities, what she saw of his talents and skills in these past few days completely removed any form of contempt she felt for him previously, she saw him as a friend now and she couldn't help but feel horribly guilty about the way she had treated him in the past… granted at least she didn't bully him like Snotlout did, worst she did was ignore him... and threaten him with her axe, but that doesn't count! She was jealous of him at the time! Unfortunately Hiccup didn't have time to promise that he would be safe as Gobber hobbled up behind them to usher him into the kill ring.

With metallic clanking and clattering the gate opened, Hiccup donned his helmet as he stepped inside. "It's time, Hiccup. Knock 'em dead!" cheered Gobber with a bright, overjoyed, yet crooked smile on his face. His underbite and missing teeth didn't help matters much in that regard. As he entered he heard Tuffnut shout something supportive at him from the stands, but he was far too focused on keeping a dignified appearance that he didn't even register what exactly he had said. Hiccup glanced at his father's proud face, he nodded approvingly to which Hiccup simply responded with a half-hearted half-smile as he approached the weapons rack.

He selected a shield and strapped it onto his forearm, much to Gobber's delight, the boy had taken something away from his lessons after all! As for armament, Hiccup decided he would take a small dagger, he was too weak to hoist a war hammer, too scrawny to wield an axe, and too inexperienced to use a sword, though it didn't matter as he hadn't intended on using the weapon either way. The boy then turned to face a large wooden door, bolted shut by a large log. He took a few deep breaths and raised his voice for all to hear. "I'm ready". At that a lever was pulled, the log was raised, thus unlocking the gate.

The crowd grew deadly silent, watching the events unfold intently. With a loud explosion the gate blew wide open with a giant blast of sticky napalm-like fire, the Monstrous Nightmare that had patiently waited within the cage burst out into the open, its entire body fully set ablaze as it crawled up the walls and ended up hanging upside down from the chain ceiling like a bat. It hissed. The crowd roared and jeered and the dragon blasted fire in their general direction. Somehow nobody appeared to have been significantly injured as they all dove out of the way in time. A few charred clothes and superficial burns was probably the worst of it.

Upon determining there was no way of escape it skittered back down toward the arena floor. It was cornered. It was a fight-or-flight scenario where the option to flee was taken from it. Once again the crowd went utterly silent to allow the boy to focus on the fight. The boy and the beast locked gazes as Hiccup deliberately dropped both his weapon and his shield and stepped away from them.

The villagers looked on in confusion, murmuring amongst themselves. The dragon, stalked toward the scrawny Viking and sniffed the air, snorting somewhat menacingly and snarling at him as he extended his hand to meet its snout. The Nightmares' eyes changed focus, now intently observing Hiccups helmet. "It's okay… It's okay… " whispered Hiccup as he reached up to remove the helmet from his head and tossing it aside, he knew that this was a point of no return for him, either he succeeded in convincing the entire village that dragons were not what they thought… or something horrible would happen. "I'm not one of them" explained Hiccup, all eyes on him; gasps and mutters replaced the silence they had previously. Hiccup avoided Stoick's glares in particular and focused on the dragon before him, holding out his bare hand toward it. It paces around him nervously, uncertain of it all but seemingly calming down and relaxing around the boy, its pupils widened ever so slowly.

"Stop the fight" yelled Stoick, his hand on one of the chains that made up the arena's canopy.

"No! I need you all to see this." Responded Hiccup, determination audible in his voice. Astrid was still standing by the gate, she felt an incredible nervousness well up within her, she feared for Hiccup's wellbeing… Hel she feared for the dragon's wellbeing! What had happened to her?.. Oh yes, right… Hiccup happened to her, he made her love him by just being himself, rather than what he was expected to be. "They are not what we think they are" continued Hiccup, "We don't have to kill them."

"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT" Boomed Stoick as he hit the iron of the enclosure; the entire arena was filled with the loud cacophonous rattling. The Monstrous Nightmare snapped out of its slowly calming stupor, pupils narrowed into slits again. In its panic it snapped at Hiccup's outstretched hand, snatching it in its jaws, just before the boy had time to pull it out of harms way, the dragons hook-like fangs tore deep into his flesh. Hiccup never felt such intense and excruciating pain, he wanted to scream bloody murder, but he had no time. The beast jerked its head to the side, tossing Hiccup aside. Most of his body thudded limply against the stone wall of the arena, accompanied by the sound of breaking bones, a loud gasp left him as the wind was knocked out of his lungs, his now severed arm landing several feet away from him.

Hiccup lay in a growing pool of crimson, the stump of his severed arm was positively pissing blood while the world around him was losing colour at an alarming rate. He clung to his consciousness, for he knew that if he allowed himself to drift off he wouldn't awaken again; it was as if his self-preservation instincts finally kicked in for all the good that did him now. From his position he could see the gate to the arena, where he easily made out Astrid's blurry form, he couldn't make out any detail but he could imagine what expression she wore in that moment, he had failed her, that much was a certainty for him, he managed to break a promise he hadn't even explicitly made. His mind drifted to Toothless, he knew that Astrid would take good care of him now that she knew what dragons were really like, he just regretted being unable to properly say his goodbyes to him. The thoughts of his best friend and of his love interest, mixed with the pain from his injury made tears well up in his eyes, clouding his vision even further.

Just as Hiccup was tossed around the arena like a ragdoll, the villagers of Berk seemed frozen in shock, gasps and shouts of horror filling the air and mixing with the Nightmares terrifying roars. "HICCUP, NO!" screamed Stoick, he was the first to snap out of it, his protective father instincts taking over, he forced his way through the crowd, hollering that someone open the Thor damned gate. He rushed to the arena, his hammer firmly in hand; that beast was about to pay for harming Berks heir. Once at the entrance he found Astrid trying to open the gate to the best of her abilities, he had heard her scream out Hiccups name from the stands. On any other day he would have noted her unusual attachment to his son as strange, but for now he had other things to worry about, such as avenging his son's injuries.

In the cove, a short ways from Raven point, Toothless was lazing around, curled up into a tight black bundle in a manner quite similar to a cat or dog. The day so far had been rather pleasant, peaceful even; he had eaten plenty and gotten enough sunlight to stay nice and comfortable. Though the peace would soon be interrupted; Toothless' ears adjusted to the direction of some oncoming sound: the booming voice of the Human leader, their Alpha, Toothless thought, the voice was followed by what appeared to be some sort of metallic clanking and clanging. The dragon jerked his head upward, focussing on the origin of the sound, he was aware that Hiccup wished to show to his ilk that dragons were not the devils they were made out to be, he understood that much. The Night Fury grew restless with worry, the sudden and unmistakeable roar of a Monstrous Nightmare, followed by some of the other humans screaming out Hiccup's name made him jump to action. He skilfully hopped onto his feet and rushed for one of the walls. He knew he was grounded, unable to fly, but he was damned well going to try to climb if it meant saving his friend. He leapt against one of the rocky walls in the cove, his sharp claws digging deep into the stone, he propelled himself further upward only to slide back down again… Toothless was getting restless, desperate; he knew his boy didn't stand a chance against an angry Nightmare, so time certainly was not on his side. He tried again and again, straining his body further with each attempt. The only thing to pass through his head in that moment was the single-minded obsession to save his rider and best friend. The dragon only stopped trying once he literally collapsed from exhaustion, his strong heart feeling as if it were about to beat straight out of his chest. Toothless' eyes fell shut as he lost consciousness, his dreams plagued with guilt and pain. He would doubtlessly be out of it for the following few hours.

Astrid gripped the metal bars blocking her path, her knuckles turning white from strain; she watched helplessly as Berk's heir was discarded unceremoniously by the giant red lizard. "HICCUP!" She screamed out, her voice ringing out in pure horror as she watched the events unfold. She fought to keep her composure and gripped her axe, sliding it underneath the gate in a futile attempt to wrench it open that way. She vaguely registered the thudding footsteps of Stoick approach her and the gate, ordering something or other to Gobber, who wordlessly limped off to find the Arena gates lever. She glanced over to the chief to find his gaze filled with a kind of fury she never saw on him before, the large man was enraged and she would do best to stay out of his way for the time being. That suited her quite well as she had no intentions of fighting the dragon then, rather she would make a run for Hiccup right away, she had to keep him alive or at least comfort him in his final moments if it really was too late, she just had to.

The gate slowly raised itself for what felt like an eternity, where in reality it was only a few short seconds. Stoick, Astrid and most other Vikings that came along to help rushed for a shield before charging into the ring. The blonde shield-maiden was at the very forefront of the assault, her shield held in front of her as the dragon spat fire in her general direction, the blast was fairly unfocused so her shield absorbed most of the impact but was reduced to flaming splinters in the process, forcing her to discard it and continue with nought but her axe. She rushed to Hiccup's side, leaving the dragon to the rest of Berk's warriors; most importantly the chief himself whom she understood had a lust for revenge. She dropped on her knees besides Hiccup, letting her axe clatter on the floor, it may have been her favourite weapon, but in that moment it seemed so utterly unimportant to her, in fact, nothing besides him held any importance whatsoever at that moment. She scooped up the battered boy, pressing his head up against her chest. "Hiccup, don't do this to us, don't you do this to us… you're not going to die on us this easily you hear?!" stammered Astrid, her voice was shaky, she was on the verge of tears, but keeping him awake and responsive was her primary objective, a single minded obsession even.

"Wha... 'Strid?" Hiccup mumbled, "'m sorry… broke th' promise" the boys already dull green eyes slowly blinking.

"D-don't you apologize, you're going to make it! You'll survive, Gothi is already on her way" she responded, her words coming out of her mouth at a rapid pace, Astrid's surprisingly gentle fingers began brushing through his hair, she seemed to have blocked out everything that was going on around them. Hiccup didn't respond right away.

True to Astrid's words the Gothi -the village healer- made her way down toward the arena as fast as her little legs could carry her, where she would wait for the dragon to be dealt with.

"Take care 'f Toothless whil' 'm gone…" he slurred, his choice of words made it sound like he was merely leaving for a vacation or a quick trip, that only made Astrid tear up further. She nodded shakily, she promised she would.

The shield-maiden's tunic became wet and sticky as it soaked up the boy's blood, but she didn't appear to mind or care at that moment, focusing on comforting him. She started pathetically crying into his shoulder, continuing to whisper gentle words into his ears between heart wrenching sobs.

"B'for' I go… 'want'd t'say s'mthin'" Hiccup started, his body shivering heavily as the warmth escaped him, his eyes were seemingly flickering in and out of consciousness, his breathing was heavy; forced and ragged, Astrid knew it was straining on him to even speak, but she wished to hear what he had to say nonetheless, it sounded important. "'ve want'd t'say this f'r 'slong 's I can rem'mber… 'm'n'love with you, Astrid"

This only made her sob uncontrollably, she shakily kissed his forehead, "I-I know, and I… I love you too…" she hesitated, it felt unnatural to say such a thing, she was Astrid Hofferson, she didn't love… yeah… she DIDN'T, ever since the flight she had fallen for the fishbone, she had grown attached to him in the few short days that she truly knew him to the point where that confession painfully tore at her heart and soul. Hiccup held out his intact hand and weakly ran it over her tear stained cheek, forcing a smile at her as if trying to console her and tell her he was fine, but the look in his eyes betrayed him, he was going to die, they both knew that. Astrid returned the gesture in kind, stroking his cheek before planting a kiss on his lips. 'He deserves to die happy' she thought.

Had Hiccup had any blood left in him he probably would have blushed wildly, but as it stood the only indication he even registered the kiss was the gentle smile on his lips, a smile which felt far more genuine than before. He slowly shut his eyes while pained tears flowed down his cheek. His ragged breathing ceased. His body went limp. He was gone…

Astrid had never considered herself too religious, she normally felt prayers were a waste of time and effort, yet there she was, praying to Odin and Freyja, practically begging them to send a Valkyrie down to bring Hiccup to Valhalla, if there was one Viking that deserved such an honour it was him. He dared defy three hundred years of stubborn tradition in an attempt to improve the lives of all, he dared try and find a way to resolve the conflict peacefully, only to die, killed by the very beings he swore to protect. It was all so unfair. The blonde's lips silently moved as she recited her prayer to the gods, it was all she could do to help, she felt utterly helpless and pathetic.

The teen girl was so absorbed in her mourning that she hardly even noticed the fight behind her, half a dozen Vikings, Stoick the Vast chief among them against a very violent and irate Monstrous Nightmare; the Vikings tried holding the beast down by literally throwing themselves on top of it, using their weight to wrestle it to the ground, it seemed to work fine until the beast worked up the strength to simply throw them off, Norse cursing filled the arena as the dragon inhaled for one last blast of fire, the beast had nearly reached its shot limit while fighting, Gobber had made it a point to carefully count them while evading or blocking the attacks. The dragon let loose a hurricane of fire toward its attackers, panning its head from one side to the other in an attempt to strike each and every one of them, the Berkian warriors luckily managed to scramble to their feet in time to form a sturdy shield wall, keeping themselves safe from harm, though it was only then that Stoick realized it intended to go for Astrid and Hiccup too. "ASTRID, WATCH OUT BEHIND YOU!" he boomed, snapping Astrid out of her prayer and making her jerk her head back to look at the rapidly approaching flame with a horrified, wide-eyed expression, she held up her arms in front of herself to protect her face and shut her eyes firmly, something she had learned from her uncle Sven. -he always claimed that an arm was a more acceptable loss for a Viking than their vision or hearing and she could certainly get behind that reasoning.- She stumbled backwards, crying out in pain as she fell back onto her knees, clutching her most injured arm close to her chest. It was then that the Vikings decided they had quite enough of the Nightmare and began wildly hacking, slashing and striking at the beast, blood was spilled, bones were broken and skulls caved in until it could move no longer.

Stoick was huffing and panting from exertion, he was no stranger to brawling with a Nightmare, and yet this had been far more exhausting than any dragon raid, he shakily approached Astrid who was hunched over Hiccup again, holding her injured limb while crying tears of sadness over the boy's body, Stoick looked at her face and knew it all, his son had passed, he had been killed and he couldn't even say his goodbyes… it felt like daggers were being rammed into his gut and chest. It was horrible for him and just about everyone else in the village. The giant of a man knelt beside the lithe Astrid, laying a meaty hand on her shoulder whilst silently watching his boy's body, the girl twitched at the contact, looking at Stoick with almost pleading eyes, deep down she had grown to hate Stoick for having allowed this, she blamed him for Hiccups death, she wished to chew him out right then and there, in front of the whole village, call him out for his own reckless behaviour… but she couldn't, he was a father, he had the right to mourn his son as much as she did, besides, her arm hurt like Hel, even if she could bring herself to explode in front of him she would likely collapse into a hurt and whimpering mess soon after, her ego really didn't need that abuse after what happened.

Stoick focused on his son's face, unable to bear the sight of his arm stump, he was no stranger to his son getting injured, yet him losing a limb seemed so impossible… then again so did him being first in dragon training class; he looked so peaceful, as if he was sleeping… yes… it was this image of him that Stoick wanted to remember. It was at that moment that Gothi ran in with another Viking –Her nephew-, the latter having rushed to the healer's home to gather up her supplies. She knelt down besides the grieving pair and took one long look at Hiccup. She sighed and glanced away, everybody seemed to know what that meant. Gothi did however also notice Astrid's burns and beckoned her to come with her after ordering that the boy's body, alongside his arm be taken to her hut in order to allow her to prepare for his funeral. Vikings had many rituals that needed doing before they could allow a fallen warrior to pass onto the afterlife and with Hiccup being Stoick's son she intended on doing them properly.

Astrid wearily traipsed after the tiny elder, sniffling quietly while rubbing the tears out of her eyes to the best of her abilities. She was avoiding the equally compassionate and confused looks she received from both her peers and the other villagers; she had shown so much emotion toward Hiccup that it seemed almost out of character for her. Astrid Hofferson had cried, she had grieved over the village runt with such intensity that it made some others believe that she may have secretly been in love with him. Her reputation had suffered, that much she knew, but the pain in her heart and the throbbing of her burnt hands made those thoughts rather moot by comparison; besides, she was still a competent enough fighter that nobody would dare tease her about it… Except the twins, but they had always had a rather callous disregard for their own safety and wellbeing. She was being walked to the healers hut to have her wounds treated, but the air was so thick with grief, pain and sadness that it almost felt like she was being lead to her own execution.

Gothi pushed open the door to her hut, the scent of dried herbs and other medicinal items like powdered animal bones and horns, as well as some more… revolting items filled the air, it was by no means an unpleasant atmosphere, but with her inner conflict it only made Astrid nauseous and dizzy. The mute elder motioned toward the bed with her staff and Astrid sat on the soft bedding, she was thankful for it as she wasn't certain just how much longer her legs would have been able to carry her otherwise. She held out her hand upon the healer's instruction and allowed her to take a good look at it, it was an intense burn that covered the outer half of her left hand, as well as most of her fingers and a majority of her palm, the wound ran halfway down her forearm stopping just short of the elbow, a few minor marks were on the opposite arm as well since she held both out to protect herself, though those were not nearly as bad. The Gothi realized just how lucky Astrid had been that the shot merely grazed her, if it were dead on at full power she would have doubtlessly lost that arm completely if not her life, as it stood she would only end up with a few additional scars, perhaps some very minor nerve damage, but nothing more. Astrid recalled something she said at the start of one of the first dragon training classes with Gobber 'It's only fun if you get a scar out of it', She couldn't help but silently scoff at her past idiocy.

She watched as the healer pulled a small jar from one of the numerous shelves around the room and removed the cork, a fresh, cool scent filled Astrid's nose as the Gothi took some of the bright green salve and began smearing it onto her wounded arm. The salve appeared to have a cooling effect on the painfully hot and throbbing mess of a wound which made the young warrior breathe out a sigh of relief, the first she had the chance to have since the arena. She then kept her eyes on the elders skilled movements as she wrapped her arms in bandages, making sure they were just tight enough as to not fall off, but loose enough as to not cause pain or discomfort, Gothi only had the best interest of her patients at heart and did not take her responsibility lightly, something many Berkians were thankful for.

As soon as the diminutive elder was done tending to her wounds she was promptly ushered out, judging by how urgently she was almost shoved out of the door Astrid understood she wanted to spare her the sight of Hiccups corpse, who was most certainly being carted up to the healers hut at that moment, frankly she was thankful for it as she didn't know how she would react if she were to face it again… She had been told to go home and rest up, as well as eat a healthy meal to regain her strength, but she knew she would hardly be able to eat after witnessing what had occurred not an hour prior. She returned to the Hofferson homestead, wearily greeting her parents before climbing up the stairs into her room while dismissing whatever her parents may wish to say to her with a silent wave of her bandaged hand.

She pushed open the door to her room, hissing in pain upon realizing she used her left hand rather than the mostly unharmed right. She practically stumbled inside and slumped onto her bed with a soft cushioned thud, burying her face into the pillows and just lying there, thinking. She had no urge to let tears flow again despite the deep rooted pain that was still very present within her, she figured she had cried enough for one day; her eyes were puffy and red and her nose felt stuffed. She awkwardly rolled over and peeled her blood-stained tunic off after clearing herself of any leftover armour she wore for the day, trying her hardest to not strain her injured side too much in the process, she tossed the top aside and stood up to fetch a clean one from her dresser, she first pulled a green tunic from it before frowning and stuffing it back inside, green was Hiccup's colour… besides, it didn't suit her, or so she thought. She recovered another shirt from the depths of her dresser, a blue one this time, several shades darker than her usual attire and pulled it over her head after adjusting the wraps she wore to keep her breasts from getting in the way, she certainly wasn't the largest in that regard, but it was still non-negligible, especially for a self-styled warrior such as herself. Astrid lay back down onto her bed and turned over to look at her room's rather high ceiling, she knew there was no point in trying to sleep: she was completely shaken and would likely have some unpleasant dreams if she were to force it. Suddenly the blonde's eyes shot wide open… Toothless… With everything that happened she completely forgot about the dragon!

Once darkness had mostly settled on Berk Astrid groggily made her way out of her room, down the stairs and out into the village, the cold winter air made her hesitate for a moment before stepping outside with a faint shiver. Nobody was awake to stop her in the Hofferson hut, however she knew she would have to move quickly and silently if she wished to visit Hiccup's dragon tonight… Hiccup's dragon… she felt misery set in her stomach again as she skilfully weaved her way through Berk's alleys, clinging to the shadows like mould to a month old sandwich. She found herself subconsciously wandering back to the arena; within was the carcass of the Nightmare, the red pool of blood where Hiccup was, a broken weapons rack, a shattered shield rack, spears snapped like twigs, axes and swords with bent or halfway molten blades, it looked like a battlefield, and to most Berkians it probably was but to her it felt like a slaughter instead. The stench of death loomed over the entire training ground, making her pause for a moment until something metallic caught her eye, moonlight reflected off it, giving it a pale white glow in the darkness. Astrid lightly stepped toward it and knelt down to pick it up and inspect it, only to find it was Hiccup's helmet, the one he was given by his father, the one meant to symbolize his ascension from village laughing stock to village hero and future chief… the one he selflessly discarded in an attempt to show his people the truth… she felt a feeling of dread settle within her, one she couldn't just ignore. She slumped down and gently cradled the horned helm against her chest, just as she did with the owners head not too long ago. She silently sniffled, rubbing the tears out of her eyes with the palm of her right hand whilst simply ignoring the icy air that made her so uncomfortable a few minutes prior. The metal felt cold and painful against the blonde's injured hand, but she couldn't find it in herself to mind or care, if anything the pain took her mind off of the subjects that were tormenting her.

Astrid sat on the dirty arena floor; she kept her shoulders slumped and clung to the helmet in her arms for a good half hour before finally getting up, shakily pulling herself onto her feet and returning most of her attention to the task she came outside to achieve in the first place. She slowly made her way down to the docks, trying to ignore the stinging cold as well as her inner conflicts. A dozen or so longships and fishing boats were neatly lined up, tied against posts as to not drift away, she looked out into the moonlit ocean, sighing silently and making her way to one of the boats. She boarded it and began searching, only to emerge a few minutes later with a large basket of fish hoisted over her shoulder.

With the basket over her shoulder and the helmet in her hand she light-footedly made her way through the forest north of the village; she followed the path to Raven Point and rushed to the cove where a helpless dragon was still stuck with no means of escape. Upon dropping down into the cove she found a hapless Night Fury impatiently pacing around the place. He looked equal parts miserable and exhausted. One of the walls behind him, the one which coincidentally was also the most well-lit was utterly covered in dragon claw marks and gashes. "You tried to escape… you heard what happened and tried to rescue him…" Astrid muttered to herself at the realization, never in her life had she expected to see such loyalty and devotion from any creature, let alone a dragon. -then again, it was mostly her upbringing that was to blame for such prejudices- She approached the jet black beast, stealthily at first, until the fact that she knew that dragon caught up with her, after which she made no attempt to hide her presence. Toothless rushed over to Astrid, nearly knocking her over while whining sadly and nuzzling her for comfort. The dragon would sniff the young Viking once before backing off slowly, his eyes narrowing into slits and his ear plates tilting back to lay flush with his neck, it seemed as though he could make out the stench of death that probably still clung to her, however toothless made not attempts to attack her as he quickly calmed down.

Astrid reached out to pet Toothless, who accepted without complaint. The beast's downcast look was all she needed to know to confirm that he understood that Hiccup would never return to him. Astrid decided she would be the first to break the silence. "I brought you fish, dragon" she said as she presented to basket to him, awkwardly holding it with her right hand. Calling the dragon by his name to his face felt strange, and while she was capable of thinking of him as Toothless, she was either unwilling or unable to say it. She moved over to one of the rocks and sat on the floor with her back to it, letting the baskets contents spill out on the floor. Toothless approached slowly and took a few careful sniffs, he wished to make sure she didn't bring him any eels, Hiccup had made the same mistake at first, and there was no reason that Astrid would know any better. Upon determining that it was safe he ate a few fish before pausing and looking at the human girl, he let out an upset crooning. It seemed he understandably didn't have much of appetite either.

Toothless, once having eaten a couple of bites sat down close to Astrid, watching with sad eyes as she fidgeted with a metal object in her hands. Upon closer inspection it seemed to be a helmet, he sniffed it silently it was clear who that helmet had belonged to before finding its way into the Viking girl's possession, though that didn't seem to be the only thing to catch his eye. He hadn't appeared to notice it before, but he could clearly see her bandages, as well as smell the ointment that was put on it. He may not possess any medical knowledge, but he knew that that was not normal, so he softly nudged her left hand with his nose, causing her to jerk it back whilst allowing a pained sound to escape her lips which startled the curious dragon. "S-sorry… I just got hurt a little… nothing our healer can't fix" Astrid explained, earning her a compassionate warbling from the dragon, she held her hand in her lap and flexed the fingers, wincing in pain at the slightest movement. Girl and dragon sat in silence for a few minutes until a gust of wind caused Astrid to shiver heavily; Toothless understood she needed warmth, winter was approaching and the weather grew steadily colder. He slowly padded over to some of the brush on the far side of the cove and began dragging back branches and bits of bushes, piling them up before Astrid. The Viking girl curiously watched him, exhaling hot air into her hands in an attempt to stay at least somewhat comfortable. Her gaze stayed glued to the dragon hoping to understand the admittedly rather sudden shift in demeanor, not twenty minutes ago he seemed absolutely hopeless… though perhaps it was her presence that calmed him. Toothless quickly blasted the pile, startling the poor girl out of her train of thought and creating a makeshift campfire for his new human friend.

Astrid felt a strange mix of emotions within her, guilt, sadness, anger, frustration… and yet surprisingly joy and comfort too. She held out her hands toward the fire, relishing in the comforting heat while glancing over to Toothless, for the first time since she met him she saw true intelligence in those piercing green eyes of his, whilst locking gazes with him she found a sort of profound understanding stare back at her; It seemed so gentle, caring and kind that it only made her heart ache. They had fought these magnificent beasts for 300 years, hell-bent on their extinction because nobody had spent the time and effort understanding the creatures, she felt it was disgusting, repulsive even. Astrid swallowed a sob and threw her arms around the dragon's neck, pressing her head into the crook of it while muttering pained apologies. She knew she couldn't make up for her tribes biases and wrongdoings, as justified as they may have been. The dragon seemed rather taken aback by the sudden display of affection, but once the initial shock wore off he returned the embrace to the best of his abilities. He laid his wing around her to shield her from the icy wind, thus allowing her to enjoy the fires comfortable warmth. After a short while they eased into one another, Astrid leaning against Toothless' flank. Her gaze was now entirely focussed on the fire, watching it flicker and dance with the shadows in an endless tug of war between light and dark. "What would my ancestors say if they saw me like this, I wonder…" she sighed sadly. Toothless crooned and laid down, essentially curling his body around her and allowing his wing to rest on top of her like a warm blanket, Astrid sunk into the dragon's side, using his shoulder to rest her head on. "They'd call me mad for sure…" she continued her musing, reaching behind Toothless' ear plate to scratch it gently, the Night Fury leaned into the scratches, letting out pleasured coos "And you know what?.. I can't really find it in me to care!" she let out a chuckle, despite her subconscious nagging at her and reminding her of poor Hiccup, she couldn't help it, the ridiculousness and absurdity of the whole situation had just caught up with her.

Astrid hadn't realized when she had fallen asleep, but there she was, lying against the Night Fury, his wing covering her like a cosy blanket. She woke up as the winter sun hit her eyes, squinting lightly while sitting up and gently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, in front of them she found the burnt out embers, remnants of the campfire Toothless had made for them the night before. "G'morning, Toothless…" she uttered, her reservations about calling him by his name seemingly forgotten. The blonde was normally a morning person, but it was fair to say that nothing was normal about their current situation. After resting against the dragons warm body for another few minutes she stood up and stretched, she had a fairly relaxing sleep, though the hard ground was absolute murder on her back. Toothless meanwhile slowly woke up, looking around somewhat before fixing his gaze on his newest human friend. The dragon warbled something unintelligible before wandering over to the basket of fish and eating a few, from what Hiccup had told her he had quite the appetite normally, so it did concern her that he didn't seem to have any desire to eat, though she did believe it was mostly still grief, Toothless would eat enough to not starve but not a bite more. Upon noticing her own stomach growling she glanced over to the beast with slumped shoulders, knowing she would have to power through another full day of annoyances before she could return here. "I need to get back to the village before my parents send a search party after me…" she said softly, slowly walking over to give Toothless one more well-meaning pat on the head before leaving the cove from the way she came, she left behind Hiccup's helmet, knowing it was safer with the dragon than with her, and besides she would get into heaps of trouble with the chief if he found her with his son's helmet.

Astrid was in no rush to get back to Berk, she took her time, walking slowly while taking in nature, enjoying the birds songs and just desperately trying her hardest not to let her mind drift back to the boy she had fallen in love with. Thinking about him would only hurt her, that much she realized. As she returned to the village she was relieved to hardly find anybody out and about. She subconsciously wandered toward the great hall, entering it once she found herself in front of the massive wooden doors. It seemed her empty and aching stomach had lead her there without her input. She cautiously peered inside, trying to keep a neutral air and not give away that she spent the night with a dragon. Within the great hall only few villagers were there with no sign of the halls usual cheery atmosphere; No stories were being told, no Viking boasted of their warrior prowess, nothing… the few that were present simply ate whatever breakfast was made in silence. At the chief's table sat Stoick the Vast, his usual stone-carved stoic expression replaced with one of sadness and misery. He was alternating between eating some sort of stew and furiously writing something on parchment, unbeknownst to Astrid they were letters addressed to ally Viking chiefs, informing them of the passing of Berks heir, and presumably inviting them to the funeral, as was customary. Stoick always seemed to put his duties first and foremost despite the toll it often took on his state of mind, though in this case it may be a welcome distraction from his loss. Astrid took a seat by one of the empty tables once she took a bowl of whatever stew had been cooked up. She ate in silence for a few minutes before the other teens, that is, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut came in, they didn't seem to be chatting much as the heavy mood was snuffing out any attempt at a normal conversation. Snotlout noticed Astrid, much to her dismay and figured now was a good time for flirting thinly disguised as comforting her, he confidently strode over, chest puffed out, only to be met by a lethal glare from the blonde, who was not about to put up with the bratty Jorgenson, frankly she blamed him for Hiccup's death too, he was part of the reason the boy was so desperate to prove himself. Snotlout –surprisingly- took the hint and rushed back toward the others, tail firmly tucked between his legs. The teens seemed to understand that Astrid was in no mood for company, so they just sat down at another table, leaving the shield-maiden with her own thoughts.

With her bowl empty and her stomach full she took to the village streets. As the sun was now high in the sky most Berkians stepped out of their huts to face the day, she was shocked at all the downtrodden expressions she was met with; Hiccup had been top of their class for what? A week tops? And yet they acted as if they had lost some great Viking hero, the fact that everybody seemed to be so quick to forget their own wrongdoings toward him genuinely irked her, though what seemed to annoy her more was the looks she got from the people she passed, it was as though rumours about her have already spread throughout town, she was certain a good portion of the populace believed she and Hiccup had been secret lovers or other such nonsense… that being said her kissing him before he parted, in front of the entire village no less, was sure to not help matters much. Astrid forced those thoughts into the back of her mind and continued on her way trying her hardest to ignore the strange looks she received. In the end she wound up doing mostly menial and ultimately pointless tasks for the rest of the day, her mind focussed on Toothless -whom she could hardly wait to see again as he was currently her only source of comfort- Frankly she began to feel more and more like an outcast in her own village, despite most around her still keeping a friendly demeanor when speaking or interacting with her.

The day seemed almost endless, though once evening finally arrived Astrid returned to her home, intent on grabbing a weapon and heading into the forest for "Training", the blonde pushed open the front door to her hut, and was greeted by both the welcome and familiar warmth of the hearth fire, as well as her concerned parents whom immediately began questioning her strange actions, as well as her practically avoiding just about everybody throughout the day. Astrid was quick to recite the lies she had cooked up throughout the day about still needing to digest the previous day's events and recover from her injuries, which seemed to satisfy her parents, though they still seemed curious as to why she acted the way she did in the ring, they very well knew that something didn't add up, but they trusted their daughter -And why wouldn't they, by anyone's account she was the most trustworthy person in the entire village- and figured they would learn the truth in due time, whenever Astrid was ready to share it. It was during days like these where she was grateful to have such understanding parents.

The conversation seemed to drag on forever, but finally, after half an hour she was free, she rushed upstairs to her bedroom, went for her trusty axe and packed the usual things she took for training: a whetstone and a bit of dried meat as a snack in case she got hungry, and frankly she may as well be since she hasn't eaten a bite since that morning. Once everything was packed she stepped down the stairs, mentally restraining herself from speeding outside and running toward the forest, she wished to keep a natural air and sprinting into the forest for seemingly no reason only made her seem suspicious, that much was painfully obvious. She went out into the crisp winter evening air and walked through the village and into the forest, where she would be spending most of the evening with Toothless, attempting to form a stronger bond, a friendship even. She spent the last few hours of sunlight simply sitting with her back against the dragon, talking to him about everything and nothing in particular, sharing her anxieties and fears about betraying the trust of those she was closest to, lying to everyone, even if for a good cause made her feel pitiful and miserable, though the proximity between her and Toothless seemed to relax and comfort her greatly. Once the sun was on the verge of setting Astrid packed up her things, "I'm sorry I can't stay overnight, my parents would get suspicious if I did this too often" she said, Toothless gave her an understanding look and crooned out a warbled response, prompting Astrid to faintly smile. "I will see you tomorrow… promise" she added finally, heading toward the entrance to the cove. She looked back with a look of vague determination, she was going to honour her promise to both Hiccup and Toothless, which meant learning to fly with the grounded dragon, it would be a lot of hard work, she would get hurt, but she was no stranger to that, if they were to fall she would simply get back up and try again until they get it right!

Her determination seemed to waver almost the moment she left the Night Fury behind for the night. It was as though the beast prevented those negative thoughts of grief and pain from overcoming her mind, and it only made her wish she could spend her days with him rather than with her kin; glancing back at him one last time it became painfully obvious that the feeling was mutual, the feeling of a piece of herself getting torn out every time she left him behind was getting worse and worse, it genuinely did shock her, how did she grow so attached to the beast this quickly she wondered. Nevertheless she returned home on time for sundown, keeping up a neutral façade as to not rouse any suspicion. She entered her home, groggily trudged up the stairs and went to bed without much fanfare.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Berk was ever so slowly returning to a semblance of normality, mostly out of necessity; Gobber was back doing blacksmithing work, though his mood seemed particularly sour, Stoick did his chiefly duties, in spite of the insistence of some of the villagers that he should take a few days to just grieve and get it out of his system. Most of the village was back to doing what they usually did, outwardly nobody would be able to suspect a thing, though for the locals the heavy atmosphere was still very much tangible.

Astrid woke up in her bed and sat up, looking through the cracks in her windows shutters only to find it was already morning. She let out a disappointed sigh whilst rubbing her eyes, paying attention to use her right hand rather than her left. Astrid's injuries were healing slowly, but she still felt a stinging pain whenever she touched the burns that now covered most of her left arm. She held out her most injured hand in her lap and shakily flexed her fingers; she wished to make sure she didn't lose feeling in that hand even though she was well aware that that was mostly out of her control now.

After sitting in bed with slumped shoulders for another quarter of an hour the young Viking got up and readied herself for the day ahead of her; nothing unusual was happening, but ever since the arena incident every day seemed like a struggle to her, her warrior instincts told her to make the best of it and see it as another foe to overcome, yet her heart just couldn't really bear the thought. Frankly the only redeeming quality of the day was that she would finally start learning to fly with Toothless, though without Hiccup there to give her guidance it was going to be a lot of trial and error… well, mostly error. Her train of thought was rather rudely interrupted by her growling stomach, indicating she needed food first and foremost. She made her way out of her room and went downstairs to greet her parents and hopefully get a bite to eat. Once there she found her mother currently stitching up a slightly ripped tunic, though her father was nowhere to be found. "Good morning, mom… where's dad?" Astrid inquired, her voice somewhat more quiet than usual

"He is already out for the day, dear. I would have woken you up earlier but you seemed so exhausted I couldn't bring myself to do it" her mother Hilda said with a soft smile. She motioned to the dining table "I prepared you some breakfast, you must be hungry"

On the table sat a hot bowl of honeyed gruel with a bit of bread on the side, it was nothing fancy by any means, but it was not unpleasant and would provide Astrid with enough nutrition to last her most of the day, though she would likely go out to the great hall to have some lunch or dinner later.

"Thank you" Said Astrid with a faint smile, her mother's concern was a nice change of pace from all the upset and mental turmoil she had been experiencing. The blonde sat down, picked up her spoon and began eating whilst idly watching her mother work.

Once she had sufficiently filled her stomach Astrid stood up from the dinner table and went out the door, saying her goodbyes to her mother as she left the hut. Once outside she found the Berkians hard at work preparing for winter, some were busy fixing up some of the huts that were damaged in the last dragon raid, others were hauling carts and baskets of fish, grain or other foodstuffs toward the storehouse, and others still worked on their own trade, carpenters were making furniture, Gobber was busy in the forge, hammering away at some weapon or other, even the reclusive healer Gothi was out and about, presumably stocking up healing plants and such for the harsh winter months. Were it not for the depressing mood and the upset facial expressions, Astrid would have been certain the events of a few days prior were entirely forgotten… Strangely it relieved her to see that they were very much still fresh in everyone's memory. The young Viking ended up wandering for a short while, though she quickly found herself in front of the village forge, perhaps the rhythmic clanging of his hammer attracted her in some way.

Astrid found herself watching the gruff smith work for a few moments, considering whether she should approach him to strike up a conversation, gods know he may need the distraction. Gobber's face was stoic, almost emotionlessly so, though that was likely an attempt to hide the grief he held inside of him. Having made up her mind she stepped closer and spoke up, "Hey Gobber… busy day?" she started, seemingly she didn't really consider how to start the conversation which meant that was the best she could come up with in the moment.

"Aye, very… The weeks b'fore winter are always busy, but normally I'd have… help…" he replied with his typical and rather charming brogue, and while he tried to keep his tone positive his voice nearly cracked at the mention of his usually having help.

"Right… I'd offer to help if-" Said Astrid before being interrupted by Gobber,

"Don't you even think of that, lass, ye're injured… speaking of, how are your arms?"

"Honestly? Painful, but it could be much worse…" responded Astrid as her gaze unwittingly drifted down toward Gobber's artificial limbs.

"Aye… it can always be worse…" The tone in the smith's voice held no more attempt to hide his sadness, frankly he was surprising himself with his ability to keep his composure like that. A long uncomfortable moment of silence followed until the blonde Viking spoke up once more "When I'm back to full health could you teach me to take care of my weapons? Since you're on your own, I'd rather not be a burden… or you could even take me as your apprentice" She offered, hoping to learn some skills that could help her later in life.

"Teach you how to fix yer weapons, that I can do… but I don't think I want to take another apprentice just yet" Gobber's shoulders slouched heavily at that, he sighed and wiped some sweat from his brow before taking the hot piece of metal he was working on and quenching it in the water bucket he had close by. Steam rose from the water as a sizzling sound filled the room.

"… I understand, thank you." Astrid said with a genuine looking but ultimately fake smile, she wished to ask him about how he felt, how he was. But strangely she couldn't bring it up, something within her prevented her from doing so. "I will see you later then" she added awkwardly before turning around and leaving for the village proper once more. Gobber nodded and continued working.

Once Astrid returned to the town's centre she simply spent the day helping people with different tasks. Due to the recent events there would be no more dragon training until further notice, and as such she didn't exactly have many duties of her own, her chores at home were rather limited due to her usually exemplary behaviour, so she was normally left to her own devices with plenty of free time, time which she usually would have spent either training and honing her skills or helping out around the village with whatever needed doing.

Much to her surprise working in preparation of winter kept her distracted enough that the day went by in a flash and once the afternoon came to an end and evening took its place Astrid headed toward the great hall, hoping to get a good bite to eat before meeting with Toothless. Slowly and awkwardly pushing the door open she made her way inside and went to get a plate of whatever the women in charge had cooked up for the evening, it appeared to be some smoked salmon with a slice of bread and a side of various vegetables. With her plate in hand she then sat down at an unoccupied table, her lips quirked into a very faint, yet almost grim smile as she realized just how much like Hiccup she had become, just like him she sat alone at the table, and just like him she increasingly felt like she didn't belong, the weight of everything she knew weighing heavily on her, but there was more to it than just that… Astrid felt angry and hateful, both to the villagers who now thought fondly of Hiccup as though none of their past transgressions mattered anymore, and more importantly at the likes of Stoick, she couldn't bear to look the man in the eyes any longer for fear she would strike him for his perceived wrongdoings.

As she was midway through her meal, chewing on some bread, the other teens arrived and joined her with their own plates once they noticed that Astrid was in a better mood than the last time they saw one another. Much to Astrid's surprise, the timid and rotund Fishlegs was the first to address her. "Hello Astrid" he said with a somewhat cheerful tone, likely trying to lighten the mood.

"Hey 'Legs… how are you?" Astrid inquired politely, looking up from her plate at him.

"U-uhm, not too bad really… I mean winter is nearly there but considering recent events I'd say I'm doing alright…" he stammered in response, it seems he was nervous to bring up the topic of Hiccup and was trying his hardest to tread lightly.

"That's good" she responded briefly, taking a sip of water from her cup, she then glanced over toward Snotlout, who was trying to break up a fight between the twins. Not because he was being a good person, but rather because he sat between the pair and they annoyed the ever living Hel out of him. Once he noticed Astrid looking toward him he huffed indignantly, turned away and crossed his arms. "What's his problem?..." Asked Astrid, motioning toward the Jorgensen boy whilst desperately resisting the urge to beat him up, if she was honest with herself her blaming him turned into blind hate the more she thought about the situation.

"He thinks you've become "unobtainable" because of your … "Love" for… for Hiccup" Fishlegs explained with hesitance, using gratuitous air-quotes to both get the point across that he didn't believe that and to avoid getting punched in the shoulder like Astrid was so fond of doing. The mere mention of the boy was enough to bring back the fresh and painful memories, with both her wounds and her stomach began aching mildly.

"That muttonhead could never have "obtained" me anyway…" she spat, shaking her head, to which Fishlegs just nodded whilst taking a bite of fish.

As soon as the blonde had finished her meal she stood up and left the great hall without another word to her peers she returned home to grab her things before rushing into the forest where she would find a lazy Night Fury enjoying the last few rays of sunlight to nap. The sleeping dragon looked restless however; he was constantly moving and twitching in his sleep, if Astrid had to guess she would assume it was a nightmare. The shield-maiden slowly approached him after discarding her gear and went to lay a gentle hand onto his head; the contact first caused the jet black beast to stiffen until he felt her hand fondly stroking his head. A few moments later Toothless would wake up and look around sleepily until his gaze crossed with Astrid's who was smiling at him. "Hello Dragon~" she said with a soft voice, Toothless sat up and warbled at her, lightly tilting his head to the side. "I was thinking… I should learn how to fly with you, what do you th-INK?!" Astrid's words were cut short by Toothless practically pouncing on the blonde, knocking her flat onto her back; his pupils were dilated widely from apparent excitement. A hiss of pain escaped Astrid's mouth as she had hit her injured arm against the hard rocky ground of the cove, Toothless had seemingly taken notice of her pain and gotten off her, his excited demeanor switching into something more of a guilty expression, he crooned quietly, almost as if asking for forgiveness. "I-it's not your fault… you just forgot" Said Astrid while picking herself back up from the floor and fixing her now dusty clothing. Rubbing her bandaged wrist she walked toward Toothless' saddle, inspecting every part of it carefully in an attempt to understand it to the best of her abilities. "We will need to work hard… and I need to take it slowly to figure it out, so we'll stay on land for now, ok?" she explained, the Fury huffed disappointedly while padding closer to her and sitting down, waiting for his saddle to be strapped onto him. Whilst looking over the piece Astrid noticed the technical intricacy in the design, the stitching on the leather was excellent and the design of the mechanism connecting the foot pedal to Toothless' tailfin was complicated but elegant, and likely the simplest Hiccup could make it with the means he had available.

With a quiet huff Astrid hoisted the leather saddle up and laid it against Toothless' back, she firmly fastened the straps, petting the beast once she was done. "It suits you" she quipped, to which the dragon simply sat with an air of pride. The blonde moved toward his flank and promptly climbed onto the Night Fury's back, the dragon in question was of course rather obedient in allowing her to do so, he had no reason to resist, he wished to be back in the air just as much as she wished to learn. Astrid slowly eased herself into the saddle, letting her feet slip into the pedals whilst her hands went to lightly grip the handlebars that Hiccup had built into the rim. "Ok now… nice and easy." Astrid said quietly, her tone just barely above a whisper. She looked behind herself as her foot swayed back and forth in an attempt to get a feel for how her movements affected Toothless' prosthetic. The dragon crooned and started walking around the cove with Astrid on his back. "So far so good…" she commented, though her mind went somewhere entirely different "I've never even learned to ride a horse and here I am riding a bloody dragon!" she thought, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips, "Let's try it a bit faster, ok Toothless?" The dragon took off into a slow run, mindful of his new and inexperienced rider. He let out a pleased sound upon hearing his own name; it had been the first time she consciously referred to him as anything other than "Dragon". The added speed would make Astrid grip onto the bars somewhat tighter, though just enough to not fall off, she couldn't firmly grip anything with her injured hand yet and she didn't wish to injure herself further.

The pair's first training session would end after around an hour or so, after which Astrid simply removed the dragon's saddle, setting it aside. The blonde sat with her side against Toothless' where they simply enjoyed the last few moments of daytime. "I can only stay for a few more minutes" Astrid announced with a sleepy yawn as she sank further against the beasts coal black scales, it wouldn't be long until Astrid was fast asleep, propped up in a sitting position by nothing more than a watchful Night Fury. Sometime later the sleeping girl would grow tense and restless, mumbling unintelligible things under her breath and gripping onto Toothless tightly, and after a few instants she became positively agitated until she finally jerked awake in a panic and sat up straight as an arrow, her eyes shooting wide open, "HICCUP DON'T!" she screamed. Astrid was panting lightly, her shoulders drooping as she realized what had just occurred; she wiped the sweat that formed on her forehead off using her sleeve and looked at a concerned dragon, his green eyes giving off a pleasant and calming glow. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself then lowered his head and rubbed his muzzle against her stomach. The blonde responded to the touch by embracing him fondly, laying her head against his. "I'm sorry if I woke you… I just had a… nightmare". It slowly dawned on her that she had fallen asleep, and more importantly that she should have been home hours ago judging by the position of the moon. "Thor damnit!, no no…" she uttered as she sprung to her feet, grabbing her bag and rushing toward the cove's entrance after giving her new partner a last few affectionate pats on the head. "I'll be back tomorrow, promise!"

Astrid snuck back into the village, a few Vikings were posted up as sentries to warn of dragon raids, but they were luckily facing the opposite way, toward the coast. She stealthily made her way back toward the Hofferson hut and pushed open the door as quietly as possible whilst also ignoring the weight that lay on her shoulders every time she recalled her recent nightmare, it was like a twisted memory of Hiccup's death, she hoped the night terrors would subside after a while, though there certainly was no guarantee that she would ever have peaceful nights again. She stalked up the stairs, mindful of each and every one of her movements. Of course that proved troublesome as it was pitch black in the hut, her parents must have gone to sleep already, lucky her… she made her way to her bedroom without breaking her neck on the stairs and entered, laying her bag down on the floor and stripping off her boots and day clothes. She climbed into bed, letting the warmth of her blanket envelop her as she drifted off again into a fortunately dreamless sleep.

Unbeknownst to Astrid her trusty axe was meanwhile still laying in Toothless' cove, seemingly forgotten by all.

Morning over Berk, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and the mood seemed to slowly but steadily improve again. "Where is it? It has to be here somewhere!" Astrid exclaimed whilst turning her room upside down in search for her weapon. Admitting defeat she slumped back onto her bed and let out a sigh "the gods hate me…" She certainly realized she was being somewhat dramatic, but it really hardly mattered to her at all in that moment. After cleaning up the mess she'd made and getting dressed Astrid made her way downstairs to face the day. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs she spotted her father waiting for her. "There ye are, lass" Bjorn, her father, said.

"Hey dad" She said with a fake but convincing smile, "What's up?"

"I wanted to go see Gobber to get my axe fixed, if you want I can take yours to him too" he announced, patting the battered axe that hung from his hip.

"N-no!" Astrid replied almost too quickly, she turned somewhat paler than before. Bjorn raised his brow in surprise and confusion.

"An' why not? I thought yer always wanted it to be in tip top shape" he questioned, noticing how his daughter grew increasingly ill at ease with the turn the conversation has taken "or is there something yer not tellin' me?" he added,

"N-no of course not… I-I just wanted to learn to take care of my own things better since Gobber is alone now…" she explained, breathing a silent sigh of relief and praising herself for having come up with that on the spot, while it was fundamentally true she wouldn't have minded if her weapon wasn't lying next to a Thor-damned Night Fury. Bjorn simply shrugged in response,

"Alright then" he says with a still somewhat confused tone whilst heading toward the door. He stopped as he put his hand onto the handle. "B'fore I forget, Gothi said ya should go see 'er today about yer wounds"

"Will do, dad."

"Be safe, my little Valkyrie" he said with a smile as he exited the Hofferson homestead. Astrid groaned to herself, she desperately hated lying to anyone, her parents most of all. As her father used her old nickname the blonde felt more and more ill, perhaps she could bring it up with Gothi and see if she has a solution for the girl's predicament.

Astrid left the house and headed up the hill toward Gothi's little hut right away, she took a good look at Berk while climbing the stairs, you could say what you wanted about the healers hut, but the view was simply stunning. Once in front of the door she took a shallow breath and knocked with her right hand. "Gothi? It's me, Astrid… My father said you wanted to see me" she explained to the door, which opened a few moments later. The smell of herbs, plants and other things flooded her nose once more, though one smell stood out among others, inside of a large black kettle, Gothi appeared to have been preparing some sort of medicine, Astrid knew it was medicine against fevers and colds, something the healer always stocked up on during the weeks prior to the real winters beginning. The mute elder motioned for Astrid to sit on the bed, who quickly complied. Gothi softly gripped onto her forearms before beginning to remove the bandages. The little woman then reached for one of her healing salves, the same one she had used during Astrid's first visit, she realized and swiftly smeared it all over her wounds, though using less of it than last time. Astrid watched her work and also inspected her wounds, from what she saw they were healing quite nicely, even if it was going to leave nasty scarring. Before the blonde even realized it Gothi had then skillfully replaced her bandages and was looking up at her expectantly. Astrid flexed her fingers and moved her arm a little bit before nodding, confirming that the healer did a good job.

"Gothi… I have another problem…" she sighed, looking down at her feet "Ever since the arena I keep feeling ill, like I have an upset stomach or something…" she added, Gothi stepped closer, moved Astrid's hands out of the way and began poking and touching the shield-maidens stomach, she furrowed her brow and moved her head in closer still, laying an ear against her tunic, listening for… something. After a minute of examination she came to a conclusion and shook her head. She reached for her staff and started scribbling something on the floor in an attempt to get the point across. "No illness, just… briefs?" Astrid attempted to read before being lightly bonked on the head by Gothi's staff "Ow! Grief, Grief… right" she then continued reading "Grief and Heartache, it will fade with time, but never really disappear fully…" the girl sighed and slumped her shoulders in defeat. She was tempted to empty her heart out to the elder, to tell her that she had fallen head over heels for the chief's late son, she knew she wouldn't tell anybody… but it felt wrong. She desperately wanted to tell somebody, anybody, about how she felt. But nobody she knew would not judge her for it… Hiccup's death was tragic, certainly, but it didn't change the fact that he was considered a failure to most of the village.

Looking out the window Astrid wondered what would have happened had he lived… knowing Hiccup he likely would have managed to succeed in his crazy plan to unite humans and dragons, most likely through more luck than sense to boot… The impatient tapping of Gothi's staff snapped her out of her train of thought, reminding her that her business here was finished. The diminutive elder wrote one last message to her, stating that she wished to see her again in a week to check up on her wounds again, before bidding her goodbye for now.

Astrid left the healer's hut, squinting at the sun that now shone straight into her eyes. The rest of the day went by fairly uneventfully, save for one crucial detail she noticed whilst helping the fishermen haul in their catch: The islands shipwrights were already well in the process of adding ornaments and decorations to the length and breadth of one of the larger longboats they had, knotwork and religious symbols alluding to the gods now adorned its wooden hull. It was fit for a chief without a doubt. Despite nobody having told her it seemed quite obvious just what that ship was going to be used for… It was a grim reminder of the events that unfolded several days prior, a reminder that things would never be the same as they were before.

Over the course of the days that followed Astrid would spend her time alternating between learning the basics of weapon maintenance from Gobber during the day, whilst spending the evenings trying to learn flying with Toothless. The start of both was rather shaky, though the lass didn't let that discourage her, she was determined, instead she simply pictured it as another challenge to best and come out on top of. She did it for herself mostly, though knowing that it would be what Hiccup would have wanted did help alleviate the weight in the pit of her stomach. To say that she made many mistakes at the start was an understatement… She knew how to fight, but when it came to maintaining an axe, her knowledge stopped at the usage of a whetstone or a grinding wheel. Gobber had to resort to teaching her the very basics before he could teach her such things as how to replace her weapons head or shaft, or how to change out the leather wrappings. Of course her wounds did nothing to help her situation, and in fact often hindered or downright prevented her from doing certain things, but she would memorize them to the best of her abilities so that she may make use of them once she was back to full health.

Flying practice with Toothless was just as, if not more bumpy than her smithing practice, despite the dragon/viking duo taking baby steps to slowly inch closer to finally taking to the air again. For the first few days she just started her routine by simply having the black scaled beast gallop around the cove with her on his back. A simple exercise for them to learn to trust one another more blindly, she thought. She wouldn't admit it to anyone of course, but she wasn't completely at ease at the thought of flying again… The admittedly romantic flight she had with Hiccup was exciting and had her adrenaline pumping for hours afterward, however she was incredibly nervous at the idea of leaving terra firma again.


End file.
